Wheated bourbon is not my thing. I've tried and tried and tried it, and all I know is that it works decently in cocktails due to all its sweetness, and that's it's main happy point for my palate. BUT, I've tried two batches of Larceny Barrel Proof, and found them to be very drinkable on their own, so I went in on a bottle split of batch B520 of Heaven Hill's Larceny Barrel Proof. Would it also be drinkable???
Brand: John E. Fitzgerald Larceny
Distillery: New Bernheim, Louisville, KY
Owner: Heaven Hill
Type: straight bourbon whiskey
Age: ???
Mashbill: 68% Corn, 20% Wheat, 12% Malted Barley (maybe)
Batch: B520
Bottled: May 2020
Alcohol by Volume: 61.1%
(from a bottle split)
(from a bottle split)
I sipped it three ways:
On the rocks - It's simple, not too sweet, honeyed and floral. 👍
Diluted to 50%abv - The nose is......something else. At first one may find Manuka honey, cinnamon, flowers, and overripe bananas. But then it morphs into a very specific smell that sent me down 1990s memory lane: Potpourri bathroom spray unsuccessfully covering up a particularly dank dump. The palate is better. Cinnamon syrup and red hots candies meet flower blossoms and toasty oak spices, resulting a moderate sweet and floral mix. It finishes with bitterer oak, cinnamon, and pancake batter.
Full strength - Overripe cantaloupe leads the nose early on, with barrel char and honey in the background. Almond extract, banana pudding, and vanilla hit join after 20+ minutes. The hotter palate offers apples and pineapples in addition to all those red hots candies. Vanilla and tart cherries arrive later. The hot finish offers sour apple candy, black pepper, and tart cherries.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
It's drinkable indeed, but the nose's farty funk is not my preferred scent. There isn't a ton of vanilla, nor does barrel char dominate, which makes me think the whiskey's young, a good thing in this instance. I'm also impressed by the mellowness of its sweetness. Had I a bottle, I'd mostly use it for cocktails, with the occasional summertime on-the-rocks pour. That's probably not what it was intended for, but I'm not its intended audience.
Availability - More current batches can be found, if you can catch 'em
Pricing - All over the place, because bourbon
Rating - 80
Pricing - All over the place, because bourbon
Rating - 80
